Feb. 28, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 34 Penn State men's tennis team heads to Columbus on Sunday to take on the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes. The match begins at Noon at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center.
The Nittany Lions enter the match with a 10-0 mark, the best start in school history. With a 5-2 win over Penn last weekend, Penn State bettered the 9-0 start by the 1992 team.
Penn State moved up nine spots in the ITA Poll this week to No. 34. It ties the highest ranking in school history. The Nittany Lions were also ranked 34th on April 7, 2007 and February 26, 2008.
Ohio State is the third ranked opponent that Penn State has faced this season. They defeated both No. 44 Virginia Tech and No. 29 VCU. Sophomore Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) also moved up in the rankings this week, reaching No. 50 in the ITA Singles Poll. Stakhovsky is 9-0 this spring while playing at the top singles spot for Penn State. He has defeated two ranked opponents this season.
Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) improved to 10-0 this spring with a win against Penn. He is currently riding a 13-match win streak, dating back to the fall.
Last weekend, Bader moved into seventh on the all-time singles wins list at Penn State. He now has 84 wins, two behind Mike Griesser(1995-99). Bader also advanced to a tie for third on the all-time doubles wins list, passing his former doubles partner Jason Lee(2008-12). Bader has 70 wins, tied with Adam Slagter(2005-09).
Freshman Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) is 8-2 this spring at the third singles spot. He has won seven straight matches and clinched the match point in Penn State's last four matches.
Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) has seven wins this spring, while Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) has six wins. Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) has five victories.
Bader and Stakhovsky are 7-2 this spring at the top doubles spot. The duo has won six straight contests.
Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) have won four straight matches since being inserted into the lineup at No. 2 doubles.
Sophomore David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and freshman Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) are 6-1 at the third doubles spot this spring and 10-1 overall.
Ohio State enters the weekend with a mark of 15-0. They face No. 12 North Carolina on Friday before they matchup with Penn State.
The Buckeyes won the National Indoor Title on February 17. They are 7-0 against ranked opponents this spring.
Ohio State has won 181-straight home matches, the longest current streak in Division I sports.
Senior Peter Kobelt is ranked 9th in the ITA Poll. he is 9-1 this spring and 16-5 overall. He was named the ITA Indoor Team Championships Most Outstanding Player.
Hunter Callahan is 13-0 this spring at the sixth singles spot for the Buckeyes. He is ranked 73rd. He has won 17 matches overall.
Freshman Herkko Pollanen is rated as the 88th-best player in the nation. He is 5-3 this spring, while competing in the No. 2 and No. 3 singles spots.
Kevin Metka has 12 wins this spring, while Ralf Steinbach has 11 victories.
Kobelt and Metka combine to make the No. 3 doubles pair in the nation. They are 8-1 this spring and 22-4 overall, with seven wins over ranked opponents.
Callahan and Pollanen are 7-3 in the second doubles spot. Steinbach and Chris Diaz have paired up to go 5-5.
Live scoring for the match is available at http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm.
The Buckeyes also have a live video stream at http://streamingtennis.com/ohio-state.
Please check back to GoPSUSports.com for updates on the Penn State men's tennis team. Updates are also available on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.